Nowadays

A friend of mine does a post every now and again that talks about each of her children and what their current activities are. Since I don't have time to write in any baby books these days (and, let's be honest, I'm not totally sure where two of them are), I thought it might be nice to update on each of these guys for posterity's sake. It seems they are changing so quickly and doing so many amazing things, it's hard to keep up. I make little notes on our family calendar when they reach milestones, but I don't always get to share them. So, this is how it is nowadays.

Let's start with Thomas.

Thomas is one of the happiest babies I've ever seen. If he's fussy, I know he's ill. Or teething. At just eight months, he has five teeth and is working on the sixth. He is cruising around on the furniture and I fear think he may actually start walking earlier than the ten month age at which his brothers started. (Holy awkward phrasing, Batman!) His laugh is contagious. He loves to clap. He is constantly on the move - so much so that it's hard for me to get a picture of him that isn't blurry. He loves eating and has recently started eating table food along with his baby food. He likes french fries. He just started sleeping through the night, which is so helpful since Patrick and I were both getting to the so-tired-we-can't-see-straight stage. He crinkles his nose and makes a funny sniffing in and out sound when he's excited about something. He loves to watch his brothers play and they are so kind a loving with him - always kissing and hugging him. It's hard to remember what life was like without him in our family.

Then there's Peej.

This kid is such a sweetheart. He loves dancing and singing. He's artistic and has the patience it takes to sit and color a picture, but can't always sit through reading a book. He makes his toys talk with silly voices. He loves to play with Jack and they get better at playing and pretending together every day. He thinks it's hilarious to say the word "poopy," often followed by the word "Mommy," which, I've come to realize, is something I'm just going to have to roll with since I say that word more times in a day than I'd like to myself. PJ is kind and sensitive. He hugs Jack and kisses Thomas 20 times a day, always saying, "Hi, sweet baby!" He is an encourager extraordinaire. He is constantly saying things like, "You're a really great helper/track builder/puzzle maker/painter, Jackie!" If he asks one of us for help doing something he can't, he cheers us on while we're doing it - reaching a cup, getting something that has rolled under the couch - "Go, Mommy! Go, Mommy!" he says, with a "You're a really good reacher, Mommy!" afterward for good measure. He talks like no other two-year-old I've ever heard. Not even Jack spoke as well as PJ does, and he was a great talker too. I recently received an email update about what my two-year-old ought to be doing right now and it said this:

By 30 months, your child can name a few body parts, some colors, and even a friend or two. Her memory and speaking ability work in tandem. Help out by expanding on what she says. If she says, "Dog sleep," you might say, "Yes, Spot is curled up and fast asleep in his doggie bed." She can't imitate your complex language patterns yet, but her brain is absorbing them. Every time you repeat her words or expand on them, you're giving her memory practice.

I had to laugh. PJ just told me while I was folding the laundry, "Mommy, the pants go in this pile, not over there on the couch! And the socks are on your lap, but actually, I want to put them here and sit on your lap." I know every parent probably thinks his kid is ahead of the curve, but getting those sorts of updates kind of confirms it for me in the verbal department. However, the one thing he consistently says wrong and I hope will not change anytime soon is, "I want to hold you" when he wants us to hold him. He loves saying prayers before meals. We have one simple one that we say in the morning before breakfast, and after we giggle a little watching him bless himself by tapping random upper body parts in no particular order, it warms our hearts to hear PJ say, with his hands folded and eyes closed, "Dear Jesus, we love you and we offer you this day, our body, our souls, our work, and our play. Amen." PJ is Mommy's boy, sometimes almost frustratingly so, as I can hardly take 15 minutes to get in the shower and get dressed in the morning without him crying at the bottom of the steps that he wants Mommy or go to the bathroom without him wanting to come in and sit on my lap. It's endearing and frustrating, but I know that this time will be over quickly and I'm trying to cherish it rather than wish we were beyond it.

Now on to Jack.

Jack is growing more and more independent every day. He is such a helpful big brother. He loves mazes and puzzles that have hidden pictures or that ask him to find the thing that's different. He loves to pretend to read simple story books that we've read together over and over, and he loves listening to new stories. He's been working on phonics and putting letter sounds together to make words. His favorite thing is to sound out a simple word like "hat" or "ball" and then figure out what happens when we change the first letter. It's amazing to watch him put concepts together. Last night, I asked him to take five more bites of his dinner and he replied by saying, "Mommy, two plus two makes four, and if I add one more, that's five!" Patrick and I just looked at each other in surprise and said "That's right!"

Jack is a rule-follower and enforcer. I think maybe it's an oldest child thing, because he's very black and white and likes telling other people the "right" way to do things. That sounds only slightly similar to the undesirable characteristics that another firstborn person I know is trying to change about herself (ahem) so I'm trying drive home the lesson that just because people do things differently from you, it doesn't mean they're doing things wrong. Jack has such a sweet nature. He is, and always has been, very polite. "Please" and "thank you" are second nature and he is the most appreciative child I've ever known if someone gives him something or does something for him. He is very outgoing and is having a great time at preschool. One day this week, the class dismissed a little earlier than usual because it was raining and when I got there, most of the other parents and children were already gone. I asked Jack if it made him upset when I wasn't there or if he was afraid I wasn't going to come. His reply? "Nope. I was havin' too much fun!" Love it!

Jack is in such limbo between being a big boy and being small that it's hard to watch the inner turmoil that this sometimes causes him. He wants to do big boy things, like skip naps or not wear pull-ups to bed, but he's just not ready for those things yet and he ends up overtired (or wet) and very frustrated at this in-between time. It's hard to watch but I know it's just a part of growing up. He likes to talk about things that are upsetting him and I love hearing how his mind works as he's trying to figure out how things work and why they are the way they are. I love that, as he's getting older, we can spend fun and meaningful times together and talk about the things that he's thinking about. He loves to ask questions about God and his sweet childhood acceptance of our faith is convicting and inspiring. Because we told him that God made the world, he often asks things like "Why did God make our house [a duplex] stuck to Mr. Landis's house?" Differentiating between man-made and natural things is not always easy.

**Edited to add a few recent quotes from Jack that I was trying to remember for this post but couldn't:

After dinner, Jack and PJ are supposed to take their plates into the kitchen and put them in the sink. One night, we used paper plates and Jack said, "Here, Mommy. I don't really want to take it tonight. You do it." I replied, "Jack, it's your job to take your plate and fork and cup into the kitchen after you eat. Just because this one is paper doesn't mean you don't have to do it." "Ohhh," he answered with an Eeyore-esque lilt to his voice, "I suppose you're right."

(You suppose??)

Another time, Jack had ketchup on his plate to dip his hot dog in and ranch dressing for his carrots. He decided to mix the two together and Patrick told him it was going to be yucky. He tried it and said, "Daddy, it's not yucky. It's 'dip-licious!'" I thought that was pretty clever for a three-year-old.

We could not be more thankful for or proud of our three precious boys.